COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPORTATION 269 



able consequence of being ministered to by a man of inferior 

 training or ability. In consequence of these conditions, not to 

 speak of others, its activities are few and listless. 



The typical country school is likewise a backward institution. 

 It, too, is a small one-room affair, without facilities for diversified 

 instruction, sustaining an ill-adapted course of study, with too 

 few pupils to create competitive interest in class work or to 

 sustain organized play. It is ungraded, demands a multiplicity 

 of brief classes daily, and is taught by a poorly paid, poorly 

 trained pedagog. In contrast with these the average city church 

 and school appear to be very progressive and efficient institutions, 

 and the other agencies found in urban neighborhoods but not in 

 rural are of equally prepossessing character. 



Rural consciousness, or the form the rural social mind takes, is 

 a large factor in the production of rural isolation. What may 

 be phrased "passive rural-mindediiess ' ' operates as an efficient 

 but indirect cause of such isolation. This form of consciousness 

 consists in being satisfied with aloofness, paucity of social or- 

 ganizations, dearth of contact and community activities, with the 

 consequence that the individuals so conditioned do nothing and 

 want to do nothing toward improvement. Of course those who 

 are so minded are not aware of it any more than do the mass of 

 people take cognizance of the social customs and modes of pro- 

 cedure of the national, class, or local groups. 



Not all inhabitants of country districts are possessed by passive 

 rural-mindedness. Some there are who are "urban minded," 

 being discontented with rural life and having a strong desire to 

 dwell in the city. Probably only the powerlessness to secure the 

 financial means to carry out a successful removal stands in their 

 way of joining the urban ranks. 



Again there is a state of consciousness which may be called 

 "active rural-mindedness." Those who are actively rural 

 minded dwell in the country because they wish to do so. Never- 

 theless, they are intelligent regarding the deficiencies in rural 

 community matters and positively desire and strive to remedy 

 them. This body of citizens constitute the hope of the country- 

 side. However it is likely that the passively-minded individuals 

 are in the majority, thus making changes toward a better situa- 

 tion difficult and slow. 



